You may sometimes wish the ground would swallow you up, but for some the danger of disappearing down a deep hole is all too real.

The people of Guatemala City are increasingly unable to trust what's beneath their feet because of treacherous sinkholes.

The latest person to get a shock was 65-year-old Inocenta Hernandez. "When we heard the loud boom we thought a gas canister from a neighbouring home had exploded, or there had been a crash on the street.

"We rushed out to look and saw nothing. A gentleman told me that the noise came from my house, and we searched until we found it under my bed."

A reporter for AFP news agency who visited her home, estimated the hole, which appeared late on Monday, was 12.2m (40ft) deep and 80cm (32inches) in diameter.

"Thank God there are only material damages, because my grandchildren were running around the house, into that room and out to the patio," said Hernandez.

Police, members of the country's natural disaster office and water utility company officials have all visited the scene of the latest hole.

Sinkholes, formed by natural erosion, can be gradual but are often sudden. Guatemala City is built on volcanic deposits and especially prone to sinkholes. They are often blamed on leaky sewers or on heavy rain.